Deutsche Bank has fired four New York employees (including many executives) this week after the company was billed for a visit to a strip club, Post learned.
Later, an attempt was made to wipe out the visit and the accusations that accompanied it under the rug, sources familiar with the matter told the post-leading to dismissal.
A group of bankers, including Ben Darthney, head of equity capital markets, and Rabbi Lagunasan, managing director who ran most of the bank’s SPAC business, turned colleagues and clients into strip clubs in February. Sources told the post that they had taken them. Neither Darsney nor Raghunathan returned multiple requests for comment from The Post.
Even going to a strip club with a colleague violates the company’s policy with German lenders. But it’s even worse for bankers. Management only noticed the incident after strip club-related expenses were submitted as corporate expenses. It is not clear who submitted the expense and who tried to hide it.
The group didn’t get much value for their money: people close to the situation said strip clubs cost less than $ 1,000.
An executive at Deutsche Bank charged the company for the cost of a strip club. GettyImages / iStockphoto
The costs were never approved or paid by the bank, which prompted the bank to investigate the situation, a well-known source said. It was not possible to determine which strip club the financier favored.
“People who didn’t attend the event but lied and participated in the cover-up were fired,” a source told the post. “It was difficult because everyone was so respected,” sources add to the German decision to dismiss the man.
But the decision to dismiss the man who was raining in the lucrative sector underscores the bank’s commitment to a “new culture,” sources told Post. “That was the right decision,” the source added. The post was unable to identify all four men who were dismissed, but confirmed that they all worked in Germany. Not all of the dismissed men actually attended the club, according to sources familiar with the matter. Also, it was not possible to identify who was the client who joined the strip club.
Dismissal occurred as Deutsche Bank doubled its compliance efforts.
People close to the situation said strip clubs cost less than $ 1,000. Getty Images / iStockphoto
“We have cleaned up our actions by 1000%,” a source familiar with the bank’s efforts told the post. “The new leadership has made a big difference, but with 5,000 employees, it’s always stupid.”
Banks treat situations where two or more employees are together as a corporate event. People told The Post, whether outside the office or outside business hours. Over the past few years, banks have also strengthened mandatory training for their employees, sources told Post.
“Deutsche Bank will thoroughly and unbiasedly investigate potential allegations of fraud,” the bank said in a statement to the post.
“We do not tolerate violations of our Code of Conduct or Company Policy and will take appropriate corrective action based on the seriousness of the situation. The World Bank refuses to comment further on the situation of this particular issue. . “
Deutsche Bank is also struggling to enforce SEC rules that require all work communication to take place on work devices, a person familiar with the situation told the post. The person added that at least one of the dismissed bankers violated the bank’s communications policy in recent months.
The news comes from Germany appearing to be on the other side of a major restructuring effort in which 18,000 people were dismissed after years of regulatory runaway and disappointing earnings. Banks have been profitable for the second year in a row, and last year was the most profitable year of the decade.
Meanwhile, those who worked with Darthney and Lagunasan say it’s sad to see men go. They emphasize that they were “good guys”.